Her Protector

Riley's Feelings

New York City. April 8th, 2030. 2:15 P.M.

After meeting her publisher and her manager for lunch in one of New York's trendiest cafés, Riley was sitting in the living room in her penthouse with her best friend Maya and her six-year-old daughter Mallory. Maya just got off of work and decided to pick up her daughter from kindergarten class at the Goddard School while her husband is at work. Riley was sitting on the couch, working on chapter five of her new story while Maya was helping Mallory out in the kitchen with her homework, which was creating a house made from popsicle sticks for her class.

"Maya, be careful in there. Try not to make a mess in the kitchen." Riley said while typing up her story.

"Riles, relax. Mallory and I are not going to make a huge mess. If we do, then we'll clean it up. Besides, don't you have a maid that comes in every day?" Maya asked.

"She's taking a day off." Riley said as Maya left the kitchen, leaving Mallory alone in the kitchen.

"So, what chapter are you on now?" Maya asked as she sat down next to Riley, picking up the remote from off of the coffee table, turning on the television to change it to a soap opera that was on. It was The Gorgeous Dawn that was on ABC, it came on right after another soap opera. "Ugh, soap operas? I can't stand them."

"What's wrong with soap operas?" Riley asked.

"What? Don't tell me that you like watching soap operas. I get bored from watching them. And my own mother is starring in one and that's on NBC." Maya said as she flipped through channel to channel. "Besides, if I want to tune into a story that I would be interested in, I would rather tune in to the greatest love story of all time. You and Lucas. I mean, your whole life is turning into a soap opera."

"I know. You don't have to remind me." Riley said.

"You and Lucas still love each other and you two slept with each other one time." Maya said.

"Well, actually we had sex again. So, that was the second time that we had se...made love." Riley said as Maya's eyes widened in surprise.

"Again? Riles, you do know that he's married and he knows that you're married. How did you feel after you and Lucas had sex?" Maya asked as Riley stopped typing on her laptop and closed it, turning to Maya to face her. The brunette stayed silent for a moment and played with her wedding ring on her finger before looking down at it, remembering the time that Charlie proposed to her, then remembered Lucas proposing to her before they broke up.

"Maya, remember the whole love triangle thing between you, me and Lucas?" Riley asked.

"How can I forget?" Maya said.

"Lucas was torn between me and you, deciding on who he would want to be with. You were going through this identity crisis-phase and you were acting like me. I remember the purple cat that you painted. You never lost your voice. I mean, how many times could I fall on Lucas' lap? I love Lucas. I never stopped loving Lucas. It's always been Lucas since day one. The reason why he chose me was because it was always me. On the other hand, I don't anything between him and Yvonne go bad and I know that he doesn't want anything between me and Charlie go bad." Riley said.

"What would've happened between you and Lucas if you two didn't break up?" Maya asked.

"Then, Lucas and I would still be together. We would've had kids. We would've seen little Lucas Jr. and Mallory playing together with Zay Jr. and Melanie." Riley said.